CSB urges chemical industry to rethink emergency plans...

1of7A sheriff walks near a roadblock after a chemical plant operated by Arkema had an explosion during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Crosby in this Aug. 31 photo. “Our message is you do have to reassess your worst-case scenario,” U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairwoman Vanessa Allen Sutherland said Wednesday.Photo: Brendan Smialowski /AFP /Getty Images

2of7A tank at the Arkema plant is seen Nov. 11 in Crosby. At a news conference Wednesday, safety board Chairwoman Vanessa Allen Sutherland warned companies to not use the past to predict the impact of future storms. She said the safety board’s review of the Arkema fires would have significant implications for the chemical industry.Photo: Elizabeth Conley /Houston Chronicle

3of7Arkema plant neighbors listen to lawyers about their options after the explosions at the plant that happened as a result of Harvey in this Nov. 11 photo. CSB investigators were scheduled to talk to those affected by chemical releases from Arkema in the coming weeks.Photo: Elizabeth Conley /Houston Chronicle

4of7A list of chemicals at the Arkema plant is passed around to people who live near the chemical plant. The safety board is still in the early stages of its investigation, which will include what harmed first responders and Crosby residents in the aftermath of the chemical fires.Photo: Elizabeth Conley /Houston Chronicle

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, concerned about the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters, is warning the chemical industry to rethink its emergency plans in light of the Arkema fires in Crosby.

Hurricane Harvey flooded the site of the Arkema plant with more than 6 feet of water. Floodwaters caused the site to lose the ability to keep volatile organic peroxides cool, leading to massive fires over multiple days.

Arkema asserts in documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the level of flooding from Harvey could not have been predicted. The Crosby location had not received more than 20 inches of flooding in its history, according to the company.

At a news conference Wednesday, safety board Chairwoman Vanessa Allen Sutherland warned companies to not use the past to predict the impact of future storms.

“No one has a crystal ball, but we don’t want people to be lulled into a false sense that the plan they may have done two or three years ago is still going to be adequate,” Sutherland said.

She cautioned that storms are going to increase in frequency and intensity, and companies need to be prepared. She said the safety board’s review of the Arkema fires would have significant implications for the chemical industry.

A Chronicle investigation into the Arkema chemical fires revealed the company was not prepared for more than 3 feet of flooding, leading to a number of critical equipment failures. The company’s emergency response plan contained only one paragraph about flooding. Its main power and backup generators were not high enough off the ground to prevent floodwaters from inundating them. The diesel-fueled freezer trailers the company used as its last line of defense failed once floodwaters got into the fuel tanks that were 3 feet off the ground.

How companies reassess their worst-case scenarios in light of an increase in intense storms such as Harvey is the “crux of this investigation,” said Mark Wingard, the safety board’s lead investigator on the Arkema case.

“A number of facilities had flooding along the Gulf Coast,” Wingard said. “Was the guidance we had at the time sufficient?”

Arkema bought the facility in 1960, before flood maps were even around. But in 2007, updated maps put the Crosby plant inside the 100-year-flood plain, Wingard said. Yet there are no regulations requiring companies in a flood plain to elevate generators or backup power.

Companies need to go beyond the rules and guidelines when considering how to prepare for floods, Wingard said, even though there are no federal rules that say they must.

The safety board is still in the early stages of its investigation, which will include what harmed first responders and Crosby residents in the aftermath of the chemical fires. Investigators were scheduled to talk to those affected by chemical releases from Arkema in the coming weeks. Wingard said the company has been cooperative.

Sutherland, the chairwoman, tried to reassure the Crosby community that the board’s investigators would get to the bottom of what happened.

“I can absolutely understand why and how they are feeling the way they are feeling, even without knowing specifically what might have been in the air,” Sutherland said. “We want people to be able to feel comfortable being near a facility, and that is part of reason we focus on communities and having facilities tell people … even before an explosion or fire occurs, what they’re storing and what the consequences could be if there is a catastrophic event.”

The safety board is hoping to publish its full investigation into the Arkema fires before the next hurricane season starts in June.